STATISTICS ON THE HIVE NZ

(last updated: 15-04-26)

Marketplace Insights: Selling on The Hive NZ in 2025/2026

Reviewing the latest New Zealand marketplace statistics is essential for any local vendor. These insights and conversion rates help you decide how your business fits into our ecosystem. Use this data to position your products for maximum success on The Hive NZ.

Vendor Success Disclaimer:

As important as these insights are, we must be clear: our data reflects The Hive NZ as a whole. With hundreds of vendors selling a vast range of goods and services, we cannot guarantee individual results. Your results as an online vendor will vary based on your product niche, your specific business goals, and the quality of your work.

The "Royal Bee" Advantage

We can wholeheartedly say our Royal Bee vendors see significantly better results in their conversion rates and audience reach compared to our free plan. These vendors receive priority visibility and generally invest more energy into mastering our E-commerce marketplace tools.

all below data is gathered from Google Analytics and the whole of 2025

📈 New Zealand Marketplace Statistics: 2025 Growth & Resilience

Despite a challenging economic climate, The Hive NZ community proved that local commerce is thriving.

41.3% Surge in Active Users: Our audience grew significantly in 2025, bringing thousands of new potential customers to our local vendors.
The December Record: We saw a 28.82% increase in sales year-on-year—amazingly, we hit this record within just the first 15 days of December.
Our best month was November which saw an equally staggering 21.65% increase in sales compared to last year.
42% Increase in Engagement: Site “Events” (clicks and views) are up, showing that our users are highly active and motivated shoppers.

🧐 The "Numbers Game": Conversion Rates

Understanding Your Conversion Rates

In the New Zealand e-commerce market, an “underachieving” website typically sees a conversion rate between 0% and 2%. In contrast, the industry standard for a “good” NZ website usually sits between 2% and 3%. Furthermore, anything exceeding 5% is considered truly stellar.

The Hive NZ consistently performs within that healthy range. Specifically, our overall marketplace conversion rate for 2025 was 2.79%. Consequently, for every 100 visitors to your shop, you can realistically expect 2 to 3 completed sales.

The Industry Standard: A “good” NZ e-commerce website usually sits between 2% and 3%. Anything higher than 5% is considered truly stellar.
The Hive’s Performance: Our marketplace consistently maintains a healthy conversion rate within that 2–3% range. Our conversion rate for 2025 overall was 2.79%
What this means for you: For every 100 “eyes” on your shop, you can realistically expect 2 to 3 “buys.”

Pro Tip: Vendors who reach the higher end of these benchmarks are those who prioritize high-quality images, clear SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and transparent shipping info.

🔎 What are our shoppers looking for?

The Hive NZ ranks highly on Google for a massive variety of terms. Here are the top categories our 2025 audience explored:

Fashion & Accessories
Wholesale (High demand, low competition—a massive opportunity!)
Gifts & Personalised Products
Home & Living Decor
Health & Beauty

New Zealand Marketplace Statistics: Wholesale Trends

Note: Our Wholesale category is the #2 most viewed area of the site, yet it remains one of our least crowded categories. Adding wholesale pricing is one of the fastest ways to stand out.

Analysing Shopper Search Trends

Moreover, it is vital to understand what our shoppers are looking for. The Hive NZ ranks highly on Google for a massive variety of terms. In particular, our 2025 audience explored categories like Fashion and Personalised Gifts.

Most importantly, our Wholesale category is the second most viewed area. However, it remains one of our least crowded categories. Therefore, adding wholesale pricing is one of the fastest ways to stand out on the platform.

How to Improve Your Shop Performance

Additionally, our data shows that certain factors drive higher results. For example, vendors who reach the top end of these benchmarks prioritise three specific areas. First, they use high-quality images. Second, they implement clear SEO. Finally, they provide transparent shipping information.

As a result, focusing on these elements will help you maximise your reach within our New Zealand marketplace statistics.

2024 STATISTICS

As for many other businesses, 2024 was a tough year for our business as well; it was time to batten down the hatches and ride out a storm we’re still all in the middle of!

Very Lucky

To say we feel very lucky to have made it through so far AND still have some pretty good results, considering, is an understatement. Our focus has always been on organic traffic and reaching our ideal audience without a heavy focus on ads.

Analysing Our Audience Reach

This year this became even more important. Which meant more work was put in attracting our audience through work on SEO*. Also, educating our vendors on how to maximise their potential on their store pages as well as with their products.